Well, it's that time of year again: relationships are all around and the holiday gift exchange has begun. And the most highly anticipated, coveted holiday exchange of all is the New Year's kiss.
Thankfully, for the umpteenth year in a row, I will be standing alone at midnight. Luckily, I'm not mad about it since I've never felt the need to be with my significant other (if I've had one) or grow angry.
Yes, it's a very cute tradition that people want to be with a partner that night, but the tradition my family and I have always kept is being together when that ball drops and celebrating another year with the people who stay with me through it all.
If I ever had my New Year's Eve kiss, I wouldn't want it with someone I just started dating. I would want someone that I had been with for a while so that I can say, I can't wait to start a whole new year with you.
But isn't that the idea, to kiss someone, or, at this point, anyone? At times, I feel like I'd be okay with just standing with all my friends who are in relationships. As they all kiss, there's me kissing the nice little champagne glass I'm nursing through the night.
That's the big deal with this kind of holiday tradition: the stigma of getting into a relationship around the holidays just to have someone to kiss when the ball drops. Here’s the reality, you start the year yourself, make resolutions by yourself, and finish the year by yourself. Nothing changes, and having someone there with you can be a plus, but you don’t need that New Years “kiss."
Last year, my two friends and I ended up going to new years at her family’s house, then watching the ball drop on the couch. No kisses, just cheers to a brand new year ahead of us. That’s what New Years is about, not the person you kiss when the ball drops, but the friends and family who will be with you in the year to come.
Being single, I’ve learned not to depend much on other people, but to start fending for myself. Maybe this year instead of the party at your friends house, where that guy who thought you were cute in high school is going to be, you think about who you should really be with on New Years.
So, I'll be alone on New Years. 19 years and alone has a nice ring to it, when you're enjoying the company of family. Would it be nice to have someone to kiss at New Years? Of course, but that doesn’t mean it would be nice with just anyone. It would have to be someone special and for now, I’m perfectly happy just kissing my champagne glass when that ball drops at midnight.
